Google TV Brings Kids Profiles to Its Great Streaming Device

Google TV is bringing new parental controls to its streaming device.

The company announced that beginning Monday, parents or guardians can now create individual profiles for each of the kids in their households with either their name and age or an existing Google account, should they have one. From these new profiles, account holders will be able to add specific apps, upload movies purchased on other devices, customized backgrounds, and in the weeks ahead, additional avatars for their user profile.

Account holders will have the ability to secure their normal accounts with a PIN to prevent their kids from accessing more mature content from those user profiles. Parental controls for the kids accounts also allow account holders to set daily screen time limits as well as a bedtime. Google says the kids profiles will arrive on the device this month in the U.S., followed by a wider global rollout “in the next few months.”

Most major streamers and device makers have introduced additional kids programming and parental controls for content, and Google TV’s features were previously expected to arrive this month.

Apple, meanwhile, is also focusing its efforts on delivering quality kids content, both in the Apple TV+ experience and most recently on the podcasts front. In partnership with Common Sense Media, the company this week launched a Kids & Family podcast hub that can suggest content by age, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Common Sense Media EIC Jill Murphy said in a statement that the curated podcasts collection “will help families take the guesswork out of finding shows that kids will love to listen to and provide a healthy alternative for entertainment time that everyone can enjoy.”